Printing-press attachment



Sum 3,1924. S 1,496,656

J. H. CUNNINGHAM PRINTING PRESS ATTACHMENT Fileg March 5, 1923 If llllllml ii 3]! WITNESSES 'l/WE/VTUR v (1H. C

UNNINGHHM' ATTORNEYS Patented June 3, 19242.

UNlE

* reacts JOHN HENRY CUNNINGHAM, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PRINTING-IRESS ATTACHMENT.

Application filed March 3, 1923.

To all whomit may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY CUN- INGHAM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Printing-Press Attachment, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in printing presses, and has particular reference to a register fork for automatic feeding mechanisms.

It has been found that a sheet of paper being fed to the platen of a press and into engagement with the register fork before the printing operation sometimes becomes rumpled to such an extent that the gripper arms will not properly function to remove said sheet from the platen after engagement with the type bed. Unless the machine is immediately stopped succeeding sheets being fed to the platen and fork will be improperly positioned and eventually the fork will be displaced with respect to the platen to such an extent, by the engagement of a number of sheets therewith, that the same will come into contact with the feeder frame as it is delivering a sheet to the platen. The fork now commonly used is made of relatively heavy material and is of such rigidity that when it accidentally comes in contact with the feeder frame or other parts of the machine serious damage thereto is likelv to occur.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above difliculty by providing a register fork of a relatively light and flexible material which, upon accidental engagement with any part of the feeding mechanism, will yield sufficiently to prevent damage to said mechanism.

Another object is to provide a fork of extreme simplicity, which may be produced at such a low figure that the cost of a re placement thereof will be practicallymegligible.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detail description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the platen of a printing press hav- Serial No. 622,630.

ing an automatic feeding mechanism showing the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of-the register fork;

} Figure 3 is an edge elevation of the arm forming a part of the fork; and

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing, the numeral 5 indicates the platen of the press which may be of a conventional construction and with which is associated the gripper arms 6 utilized in removing a sheet 7 from the platen after said sheet has been printed. The platen has adjustably secured thereto the gauges 8 and 9, the latter of which are arranged along one side of the platen to properly position the sheet '7 with respect to the type bed after the sheet has been delivered to the platen and actuated by the register fork which comprises the essential features of this invention.

The fork includes a carrier member 10 which is of the ordinary construction and operated in the usual manner and to which is pivoted a support 11 which is moved about its pivot by the operation of the platen to cause the arm 12 engaged by the sheet 7 to shift said sheet laterally and into engagement with the gauges 9.

The form of fork now commonly employed includes an arm which, although having a certain degree of flexibility, lacks resiliency and is made of relatively heavy and rigid material. The free end of the arm carries a. pair of prongs which cooperate with the arm to receive sheets of paper therebetween so that said sheets may be moved into engagement with the gauges 9 when the arm is swung about its pivot.

The present invention contemplates a construction of much more simple design than that above referred to and one in which the material of the arm 12 is relatively light as compared with the arm usually employed. The fixed end of the arm 12 is mounted in a guide forming a portion of the support 11 and may be secured in adjusted positions in said guide by means of a screw or other fastener 13. The free end of the strip of material forming said arm 12 is bent upon itself to provide a clamping jaw 14 and then turned in a reverse direction to form a second jaw 15, the extremity of which preferably terminates short of the outer extremity of the jaw 14 and said jaws at their outer ends are disposed at an angle while the intermediate portions "thereof are sufliciently close together to securely grip the sheet 7 when the same is delivered to the platen by the feeder frame (not shown) of the press, the adja cent edge of said sheet passing between the jaws lt and 15. Upon completion of the delivery of the sheet to the platen the latter is moved toward the type bed in the ordinary manner and atthe beginning of this movement the edge of the sheet 7 adjacent the gauges 9 is spaced slightly from said gauges. As the platen is moved the actuating lever 16 of the carrier 10 is operated in the well known manner to swing the support 11 about its pivot to shift the arm 12 laterally. This movement of the arm carries the sheet 7 therewith until the same engages with the gauges 9. After the printing operation the sheet 7 is extracted from the platen in the manner Well understood in the art.

lVha-t is claimed is:

In a register fork for printing press feeding mechanisms, a carrier, and an arm supported by said carrier and formed of a strip of material having one end bent upon itself to provide superposed gripping jaws.

JOHN HENRY CUNNINGHAM. 

